Chapter 68: The tide turns
In the photo, Marc Andreessen looks very proud, Jim Clark has the domineering demeanor of a big boss, and Bob Weiss, Flaherty and others all look like they are in the same camp with Netscape.
At the very corner of the photo, Song Yang was smiling, looking at Jim, Anderson and others with a relaxed smile on his face. However, countless people in later generations reinterpreted this photo and believed that this smile had a special meaning, mocking the collapse of an empire...
This photo brings together almost all of the most up-and-coming Internet upstarts in America at this time. Any one of them can be considered a local lord in the Internet industry of this era.
After the photo interview, Jim, Anderson and others began to prepare for the bell ringing ceremony with Netscape executives.
Song Yang took Jenny aside and looked at Netscape which was about to go public. Jenny was full of curiosity about everything that happened today. Almost all the people present today were big shots from Silicon Valley and Wall Street with a net worth of tens of millions or hundreds of millions. They usually appeared on TV stations and chatted and laughed with powerful federal figures and even the president.
Jenny turned her head and looked at Song Yang with burning eyes, “Song, when is your turn here?”
When Song Yang heard this, he looked at Jenny’s curious and expectant expression and said, “Who knows, maybe next year you will need to come here to accompany me for an interview!”
After Netscape went public, there would certainly be a large number of Internet companies following suit. DoubleClick Company would naturally have great opportunities to fish in troubled waters.
When Netscape's code appeared on NASDAQ, this company, which had completely overturned all traditional rules for listed companies and had only been established for 16 months, landed on NASDAQ!
Countless cameras were recording this scene. Song Yang, who was standing aside, clearly felt that Jim Clark and Anderson, especially Anderson, were nervous even though he was trying to remain calm.
However, this tension lasted only less than a minute before it disappeared. One minute after Netscape went public, there was a cry of surprise throughout the Nasdaq, followed by a burst of fierce applause.
Song Yang also heard a trader on the scene shouting, "It surpasses General Power!"
Netscape, which had just gone public, started to rise in rocket mode from the issue price of US$28, without even a pause, and in the blink of an eye it exceeded US$40. This made those who were originally prepared to laugh at the joke start to realize that Netscape was much more popular than they had imagined.
When they came out of NASDAQ and entered the hotel where Netscape was preparing for the celebration party, Jim Clark and Anderson were surrounded by a large group of people from Wall Street. Countless media and reporters wanted to interview these two people.
"Anderson, Jim, did you know that Netscape's market value just took only one minute to exceed the valuation that General Dynamics achieved in 43 years?" The media, caught in a frenzy, asked Jim Clark and Anderson.
Netscape's performance really exceeded everyone's imagination. Originally, everyone was worried that Netscape's stock could not be sold, but now they were worried that they could not get it at all. Wall Street institutions and investors, who came to their senses, began to scramble for Netscape's stock. As a result, in just a few minutes, almost all of Netscape's 5 million shares in circulation were changed hands, and the stock price soared as if it had taken drugs.
"I can only say that buying Netscape was the best decision I ever made in my life!" Anderson said proudly.
When Song Yang and Jenny arrived at the Netscape celebration hotel, Jim and Anderson were still being sought after by a group of people from Wall Street. From today on, Netscape was basically the darling of Wall Street, and Jim and Anderson also became guests of honor on Wall Street!
"Congratulations!" Song Yang also stepped forward to compliment Jim Clark and Mark Anderson. With Netscape's current valuation of 2.7 billion US dollars, America has given birth to a super-rich man worth more than 500 million US dollars. The Netscape shares held by Jim are now worth more than 560 million US dollars, and the net worth of the fat man Anderson has also exceeded 50 million US dollars!
Jim, in a good mood, shook his head pretending to be reserved, "The market has just opened. No one can be sure what will happen in the end until it closes. However, Song, you have contributed a lot here!"
When Jim said this, it was obvious that he was saying one thing and thinking another. He deliberately connected a computer and screen to NASDAQ in the hotel, which was showing Netscape's stock price in real time. At this time, Netscape's price stagnated at US$50 for a moment, and then turned on the spaceship mode again.
"However, Song, you made a wrong choice and missed out on Netscape's investment. If DoubleClick was under Netscape, you should have obtained Netscape's equity by now..."
Anderson came over and "pointed" at Song Yang with a rather regretful tone, secretly mocking Song Yang for his short-sightedness.
Song Yang looked at Anderson deeply, just nodded to Jim Clark and Anderson, then stepped aside, picked up a glass of wine and took a sip.
He now understood why giants such as Yahoo and AOL all stood by and watched when Netscape was fighting with Microsoft. From the attitude of Jim Clark and Marc Anderson towards their partners, he could understand how arrogant Netscape was.
"Song!" Seeing that Song Yang looked a little bad, Jenny looked at Song Yang with some concern.
Seeing Big Cream Cake's worried look, Song Yang smiled and said, "I'm fine. After we finish dealing with this, we'll go to Fifth Avenue together!"
As expected, Netscape's stock price doubled that day, and Marc Andreessen's net worth soared by US$500 million. The global Internet was almost in a carnival that day, and Internet concept stocks rose across the board.
Yahoo's valuation has soared again. After a series of hype, Yahoo has begun to be regarded by the outside world as the "second" Netscape, although Yang Zhiyuan and Filo do not like this slogan at all.
What Song Yang said at the airport was quite beneficial to DoubleClick Company. Before, Song Yang said that the valuation of DoubleClick Company should increase tenfold, and the media thought that Song Yang was talking nonsense.
But today Netscape's stock price has skyrocketed, and this topic has actually begun to be discussed seriously by the media and Wall Street institutions. After all, judging from Netscape's current momentum, it seems that a tenfold increase is not impossible...
I can only say that when it comes to knowing how to play, you have to look at those people on Wall Street. They can really play it in a variety of ways. Song Yang's casual remarks can become a reason to raise Netscape's stock price.
But the impact still exists. The popularity of Netscape has made WPP Group, which is far away on the other side of the Atlantic, feel the warmth. Today, the stock price of WPP Group has soared again.
This made Martin Solo couldn't help but call Song Yang to inquire about DoubleClick's listing plan. Originally, WPP Group planned that it would be good enough for DoubleClick to be listed within four years, but now the Internet industry is even hotter than they imagined.
Before entering Netscape's banquet party, Song Yang received several calls in succession. In addition to the WPP Group, there was also Yahoo. Netscape's IPO performance completely ignited Yahoo's determination to go public. The call to Song Yang again was to ask DoubleClick Company to increase its advertising efforts on the Yahoo website.
As for the other calls, they were from several small investment banks on Wall Street, trying to test Song Yang's attitude and see whether he wanted to list DoubleClick on Nasdaq.
After Song Yang hung up the phone, he couldn't help but let out a long sigh. In just one day, it seemed that he could feel the Internet craze was about to come.
Today's Netscape banquet party was a gathering of celebrities. Local New York power players, celebrities, Wall Street tycoons, bankers, etc. all came, and famous models and socialites were also walking among them.
"Netscape is the future of computers. One day, when people turn on their computers, the first thing they see is a browser, a Netscape browser!
In the light of the Internet, an operating system is nothing more than a set of buggy drivers!"
When Song Yang walked in, he just heard Anderson expounding Netscape's ambitions to the Internet and other industry figures, media, etc. present. There was laughter among the audience as they listened to Anderson's ridicule of Microsoft.
Anderson was telling others that going public was not Netscape's goal, and it wasn't even a stop along the way; it was just a refueling at best. Although he didn't mention Microsoft by name, Netscape had already begun to show its intention to replace Microsoft.
The whole banquet hall was filled with applause. Regardless of whether what Anderson said could be achieved, the investment industry needed such a big pie. The bigger the pie, the more people would buy into it.
Song Yang looked at the people present and discovered some clues. In addition to the Internet guests at today's listing, there were also Microsoft's arch-rivals such as Sun Microsystems, AOL, and IBM.
Seeing this scene, Song Yang felt very interested. An anti-Microsoft alliance was about to be established. I just wonder if the richest man can sleep well in the next few days.
Jenny stayed at the party for less than an hour and then ran out with Song Yang.
After the banquet lasted for an hour or so and the media and reporters were "asked to leave", Jenny saw a side of these American celebrities that had never appeared in public before. Various large-scale scenes finally made Jenny understand why Song Yang said that yesterday.
The next day, there was no doubt that Netscape news was everywhere. The Wall Street Journal and other media were also trying their best to praise Netscape. Time magazine put a photo of the fat boy Andreessen, barefoot and with his legs crossed, on the cover. Mark Andreessen's reputation as "Silicon Valley Digital Hero" and the second Bill Gates officially resounded throughout America, and countless Netscape believers began to appear in the global Internet industry.
Song Yang did not get involved with Netscape anymore. Even though Jim Clark invited Song Yang to attend a meeting a few days later, as it was obvious that Netscape was going to form an alliance with SUN and others, Song Yang declined. Song Yang was not interested in being a cannon fodder for Netscape and fighting Microsoft to the death!
Song Yang, who bought a lot of things on Fifth Avenue with Jenny, heard someone visiting him when he returned to the hotel.
